Premier Kathleen Wynne and Prime Minister Stephen Harper are no closer to Ring of Fire funding deal after a face-to-face meeting in Ottawa Thursday.

Premier Kathleen Wynne, who met Prime Minister Stephen Harper Thursday to discuss the Ring of Fire project, said the two sides were no closer on an agreement to share the estimated $2 billion in infrastructure costs required.

OTTAWA—Premier Kathleen Wynne said she had a “positive” discussion with Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the multi-billion dollar Ring of Fire project Thursday, but conceded the two sides are no closer to an agreement on splitting the bill for infrastructure upgrades to support the project.

Wynne described the discussion with Harper, which lasted just under an hour in Ottawa, as “fruitful”— but said the two sides were no closer on an agreement to share the estimated $2 billion in infrastructure costs required for the potential $60 billion mining project 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay.

“I wanted to get us to the point where we are engaged on the infrastructure discussion, because it’s so critical to the success of the Ring of Fire,” Wynne said.

Delays in addressing infrastructure demands — which include all-season roads connecting the Ring of Fire communities — were among the reasons cited by U.S. mining firm Cliffs Natural Resources Ltd. for suspending a $3.3 billion project in the region in November.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Wynne said she was “open” to other arrangements.

“I’m not coming with a list of demands,” Wynne said. “This is a project of national interest, in the same way that there have been projects in Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador that are projects of national interest, and I would hope that the prime minister would see this as an opportunity to be involved.”

According to Wynne, Harper was also open to working together on a development corporation to oversee projects within the Ring of Fire. That corporation, proposed by Wynne’s government in the Nov. 8 letter, would include the two levels of government, First Nations representatives, and mining companies.

In a closed door meeting on Thursday, the Conservative-dominated committee considered a motion from the NDP’s Claude Gravelle to bring in provincial bureaucrats to discuss “specific policy concerns and to determine federal policy actions that would help move this multi-billion dollar project forward.”

Because the meeting was in-camera, committee members cannot speak about any decisions.

“(But) the people of northern Ontario are smart enough to figure out what happened,” said Gravelle after the meeting.

At Queen’s Park, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said it is a “sad fact that the Liberals have bungled this file from day one and it is sad fact the mining opportunities in the Ring of Fire still years after they were discovered have not been in any way realized or exploited.”

Horwarth said the fact that Wynne finally met with the prime minister to discuss the matter, “I think is more of a way to cover her back than it is to get things rolling.”

“These meetings probably could have happened years ago if we were serious about the ring of fire. It’s unfortunate that so much time has been wasted,” she said.

Harper and Wynne also discussed the premier’s concerns over the Canada Pension Plan. Wynne has pushed the federal government to enhance the CPP, or Ontario would consider introducing its own pension plan.

“There’s no doubt that I feel more urgency in terms of moving on this,” Wynne said. “My understanding is that there is a high degree of anxiety among people who are worried about their security in retirement. And there’s a disagreement between the prime minister and me on that front.”

Wynne noted that ministers of finance from across the country will continue their discussions with Finance Minister Jim Flaherty on the matter.

With files from Richard Brennan

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